John Brunetti, Owner of Hialeah, Passes Away
 

Don't know if his passing was mentioned elsewhere but John Brunetti passed away and I believe he deserves to be remembered here.

This man was hard to figure. His takeout rates were brutally high but there is no doubt that he loved Hialeah and horse racing. Here's a link to an article dedicated to Mr. Brunetti that appeared in the Miami Herald on March 2nd.

link: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/article203138174.html

I saw him two weeks ago at GP. He looked frail. I said hello as we share the same trainer at MP. His sons will continue his legacy as they are sending a lot of horses north for the summer meet. John should be proud he had a lot of say in this game.

Watching from afar in the 1980's, I wasn't a fan. I thought at the time he took a great racetrack and ran it into the ground.

Now, having seen what has happened to the sport, I realize that Hialeah (like NYRA, the other organization I was very critical of in the 1980's) was a harbinger of the entire sport's decline.

Maybe this means that thoroughbred racing at Hialeah will make a comeback?

I sure hope so.

2nd this w/low take (had to throw that in)

Very sad about his passing. I myself love Hialeah and have many fond memories galloping horses there for several trainers too many to mention .The greatest thing about Hialeah was their racetrack. What a wonderful place to train 2yos as the backside huge path was so serene. I always had hope that JB would be able to restore racing there and was always rooting for him and read everything he was doing in the papers. I am hoping the children try to bring back racing but in this declining business Its going to be very hard as Gulfstream is now and will be the force in racing in South Florida. My condolences to the family. His voice will be missed!

The track is licensed to run a mixed meet, so why not run Mon-Tues and some Wednesdays 1/2 QH and 1/2 on the turf?

Has their turf course even been maintained all these years?

Unless it has been completely dismantled, what difference does that make?

It takes months of careful cultivation over a pretty large land mass to build a turf course. Main tracks are far cheaper and easier.